Paul, Teach Me to Pray - Tim Conway

Ephesians 3:14,

"For this reason, I bow my knees

before the Father

from whom every family

in heaven and on earth is named."

Now, I'm going to just stop right there.

Every family in heaven
and on earth is named.

Every family.

That makes it sound like
there's more than one family

in heaven and on earth that's named.

And if you just stick right there,

that's a concept that I'm not sure

you're going to find other passages

that substantiate that kind of thinking,

like there's multiple families.

The KJV, the New KJV puts
"the whole family."

And in fact, if you go
right back before this,

chapter 2:21, look at it.

"In whom the whole structure..."

It's the same word.

And why they translated it "every,"

I'm just not certain.

And many of you probably hold a Bible

that doesn't translate it that.

It's the whole family.

I mean, what was he talking about?

Not only does the word mean "whole,"

not only have the translators
translated it that way

back in the end of chapter 2,

but the reality is that back there

at the end of chapter 2

in verse 19, "You're no
longer strangers and aliens,

but you're fellow citizens with the saints

and members of the household of God."

There's one family of God.

So to translate this "every,"

as though there's multiple,

that's a strange concept.

I wrote "the whole."

In fact, I should have struck out "every."

(incomplete thought)

I'm not even sure what was
going through the minds

of the ESV translators
to go in that direction.

But, "from whom the whole family

in heaven and on earth is named."

Part of the family is in heaven already,

and part of the family is here.

What do they call that?

The church triumphant there.

The church here - the church militant.

That's one way to put it.
Yeah, there's other ways.

So verse 16.

"That according to the riches..."

Remember, this is a prayer.

"For this reason, I bow my knees

before the Father."

This is the Apostle Paul.

He's praying for the Ephesians.

"For this reason, I bow my knees..."

What? Verse 16,

"That according to the riches of His glory

He may grant you to be strengthened

with power through His Spirit

in your inner being

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts

through faith,

that you being rooted and grounded in love

may have strength to comprehend

with all the saints what is the breadth

and length and height and depth

and to know the love of Christ

that surpasses knowledge

that you may be filled
with all the fullness of God."

Now, that encompasses the prayer.

That's the prayer.

It's not exactly the prayer.

It's what Paul says he prays for

when he prays for them.

So that's what it is.

It's actually Paul
expressing to the Ephesians,

"hey, when I pray for you,

this is what I pray."

But we can count it as a prayer

because it is Paul telling us

how indeed he does pray.

Now, I would have you
notice something right off.

"That..." see it in verse 16.

"That..." right at the
beginning, verse 16.

"That according to the riches..."

That.

That has to do with purpose.

Here's the purpose.

Here's why Paul prays.

"That according to the riches of His glory

He may grant you to be strengthened
with power through the Spirit

in your inner being."

You see the "that" at
the beginning of v. 17?

That's not there in the original.

That is added.

There isn't one there.

But halfway through v. 17,

"that you..." - that one
is in the original.

"That you be rooted and
grounded in love."

And then when you get
halfway through v. 19,

"that you may be filled with
all the fullness of God."

You've got these three
purposes thrown at us.

Like I said, the one at the beginning,

it's kind of hard to translate

that transition from v. 16 into v. 17.

If you try to say it even

according to the original,

I was trying to do it.

Verse 17 starts with this infinitive verb:

"to dwell,"

and just putting it all together
and have it make sense,

the translators did this this way

so that it flows.

But you actually have
these three purposes.

Prayer. Prayer. Prayer.

I've entitled my sermon:

"Paul, Teach Me to Pray."

Teach me.

Paul - I mean, we could
be looking beyond Paul.

Father, teach me to pray like Paul prays.

I want him to teach me

because there's things to be learned here.

There's things I don't know about prayer

that the master - somebody like Paul,

an evangelist like him,

a preacher like him,

an apostle like him.

Wednesday morning I awoke

to a Whatsapp message

from our brother Kevin Williams.

He was letting me know

that my old friend Leslie Smith

had gone to be with the Lord.

English time, he died about

roughly 1 a.m. that morning.

Leslie was a British preacher.

He came here back in the early 2000's.

I heard about him through a pastor friend

over in Houston.

And we had him come over here

and we went out on the streets

in front of the Alamo.

And he had this technique,

he brought out this white board

and he began doing all sorts of things.

And then it was kind of staged.

Christians came with him

and we stood around like

we're looking at what he's doing.

And we really were looking
at what he was doing,

but the idea was you have a crowd

that's looking interested

and other people (look too).

And it worked.

The crowd started to grow

and we turned around
and we evangelized them.

And because what he was drawing actually,

it was kind of like Prim
showed us on Wednesday.

It was kind of a pictorial view.

Something like Sam Pitrone does.

And it was this pictorial
view of the Gospel.

And we turned around and began to

evangelize this family

and the next thing you know,

that family was coming to the church.

They came for a long time.

They were from California.

Very interesting thing.

Anyway, Leslie was one of
those men who prayed.

Now, I didn't personally witness so much

his prayer life,

but I know this,

that he told me one time;

he told me he had a photo of our family

on his mantle.

And I believe he told me,

I pray for you and your family

every single day.

What did he pray?

Honestly, I don't know.

But I do know this,

when he began praying for my family,

none of my children were saved.

When he went to be with
the Lord on Wednesday,

all my children are saved.

I was thinking of something else.

I was remembering another Englishman.

You've heard his name recently:

Gordon Bayless.

We talk about him from the
pulpit from time to time.

Another evangelist that would
come over from England.

Well, I remember one time my pastor

Pat Horner down at
Community Baptist Church

when I was down there, he invited me

over to his house for dinner

specifically at a time when Gordon Bayless

was in town for a conference.

And he invited me over so that
I could meet Gordon personally.

And I remember walking in.

It was dark outside.
I remember walking in.

And I walked by the room where he was

and I believe the door
was open a little bit,

and it was dark in there.

And Pat ushered me into the living room

and I sat in there.

And after a few minutes,

Gordon came walking out and I remember

it looked like his hair
was kind of messed up

and it's like that look when
you walk out of a dark room.

His eyes are trying to adjust.

And it looked like he had just woken up.

And I said, "brother,
have you been sleeping?"

And he and Pat just kind of smiled

and they didn't answer.

And I realized that he was praying.

He was in there wrestling with the Lord.

What was he praying exactly?

Again, I don't know.

But I know this,

when he preached, there was power.

And I was thinking again,

I remember a time I was over in Romania.

HeartCry had asked me to go over there.

I think it was the 2nd or 3rd time,

I was with Charles.

We're driving around Romania.

Sometimes those drives
would be 8 or 10 hours

as we criss-crossed the country.

And he got to telling me
about Leonard Ravenhill,

because he knew him personally,

and he had visited him at his home

and he knew things about his life.

And he told me that Ravenhill

would spend hours in prayer.

And he told me sometimes

he would spend 6 to 8 hours in prayer.

And I asked Charles why he would do that?

Now look, it wasn't
because I'm against prayer.

I'm all for prayer. Yes, we should pray.

But 6 to 8 hours?

I was asking just on the basis of

it's good to pray, but
if that's all you do,

how do you accomplish anything else?

And that was kind of coming

from somebody who was a pastor

and a father and had
many other responsibilities.

And Charles just told
me he prayed like that

because God burdened
him to pray like that

because there were needs
sufficient to pray like that.

Ravenhill likewise has
gone to be with the Lord.

Bayless has gone to be with the Lord.

Now Leslie Smith has
gone to be with the Lord.

I can't help but think that these men

knew how to pray.

And the thing is that as I'm
preparing for this sermon,

I've been thinking about these men.

I've been thinking about Paul.

Paul - there he is on bended knee

before the Father.

And what's he doing?

He's praying for these churches.

He's praying, praying, praying,

bended knee.

The question that surges
up in my soul is this:

Where are the prayer warriors?

God give us men like this.

You know the thing that I
want to emphasize to you

is all these men have
gone to be with the Lord.

Who is taking their place?

You see, that's the thing.

In this country, in the church,

when men like this, women like this

when they depart,

who is coming up behind them?

Where are the men and women
who are praying like this?

God give us prayer warriors.

It just seems to me that if we're truly

going to see a new generation

of prayer warriors raised up -

revival in prayer -

we need to be taught by God how to pray.

We need taught by God how to argue.

We need to get beyond,
like I said last time,

just praying, "Lord, bless this,

bless that, bless the other thing."

We need to know what is it,

what is true, what is characteristic

of the prayers?

And as much as anything,

the effectual fervent
prayers of a righteous man.

What's true of the prayers?

What's true of the man or the woman

who is able to truly lay hold on God

and when they pray, God answers?

You know, there are people like that.

There are churches like that.

When they pray, God comes.

When they pray, God listens.

And there's an urgency,

that we come to the very well of Scripture

and we put our bucket down in there

and pull up some of the
pure waters on prayer.

Lord, teach us! Teach us from Paul

how to argue, how to plead,

how to pray, what to pray for.

And I can tell you this,

Paul's prayers resonate with me.

These prayers right here - why?

Because he prays for power.

Look at it. Verse 16,

"According to the riches of His glory

He may grant you to be strengthened

with power through His
Spirit in your inner being

so that Christ may dwell in
your hearts through faith

that you being rooted and grounded in love

may (here it is again) have strength

to comprehend with all the saints

what is the breadth and length..."

and on he goes.

You know what?

If there's anything I feel constantly

and I imagine some of you,

you feel the same way.

If there's anything I feel constantly,

it's my weakness.

I mean, I'm faced by it all the time.

And it seems like the more God gives us,

the more God puts on our plate

as far as the ministry,
as far as the church,

as far as I'll Be Honest,
as far as church planting,

as far as just the needs of the brethren,

the needs of family,

the needs of leadership in the church

like new elders -

weakness.

He prays for power.

You can see it there.

He prays for the very
things that I so desperately

feel my own need for.

God, give us prayer warriors like Paul

who are going to call
down the power of God

upon the church of Jesus Christ.

We need that!

Listen, I don't know how you feel,

but I can tell you how I feel.

I would talk with
Leslie Smith on the phone

After years, he was in a bed

in a nursing home

and I would talk to him.

And he'd tell me about his life there

and how they were treating him.

Have you ever heard old
people in nursing homes?

Most of them, they're
bitter, they complain.

Not Leslie.

He'd talk about how they just

took such good care of him.

And he told me how one of the nurses

used the Lord's name in vain.

He said, "Oh, you mustn't use
the name of your Creator..."

Men and women like this,

they could call down the power.

And to have Leslie tell me,

"I have your photo and I
pray for you every day."

I don't know how that makes you feel,

but when I hear that,

that is one of the best things.

That is one of the best things
imaginable that I can hear.

When it's somebody who I know

they have a relationship with God

and they talk to Him

and they spend time with Him,

that gives me great encouragement.

It gives me great encouragement that God

would take such an individual,

gift him in that way and
then burden that man

with the desire to actually pray for me.

That is encouraging to me,

because it tells me

that God is showing me mercy

and acting in my behalf.

The urgent need of the hour -

we need men and women who pray.

And in my immaturity,

whatever I might have thought of Ravenhill

and wondered why he would be

spending 8 hours in prayer,

obviously he wasn't pastoring a church

and he didn't have a
bunch of children at home.

Obviously, there are some people

that are in a position in life

and that God has specifically burdened

and raised up to be like that,

but we need them.

We need more of them.

What I want to do is I
want us to examine this.

What can we learn?

What does Paul teach us here?

What can Paul teach us
that we don't already know

or that we're not already applying

in our prayer life?

So, let's examine Paul's prayer.

What jumps out at us?

Well, it seems that there are

two primary requests here.

Maybe we'd call them petitions.

Paul is asking specifically it would seem

for two distinct things.

Now, they're joined together undoubtedly.

But it seems like there's two petitions.

Notice, the first one is in v. 16.

"That according..."
there's the first "that."

The purpose.

The purpose clause here.

The reason he's bending his knee.

Why, Paul? Why are you praying?

What are you praying for?

"That according to the riches of His glory

He may grant you to be strengthened

with power through His
Spirit in your inner being

so that Christ may dwell in
your hearts through faith."

Now, many of the translators,

they see the same thing here.

That's why they put a
double dash right there.

There's a pause before he goes

and now asks for the second thing.

Some of your Bibles don't
have the double dash,

they have the semi-colon.

But there's that break in thought.

That looks to be the first petition.

And then notice v. 17, halfway through,

"that you be rooted and grounded in love

may have strength to
comprehend with all the saints

what is the breadth and length
and height and depth

and to know the love of Christ
that surpasses knowledge."

And then, you get this end

which seems to kind of be a summation.

When the other two happen,
this is the result.

"That you may be filled with
all the fullness of God."

Perhaps it's a third request.

Perhaps it's a summary of the first two.

I don't believe that
this is all one petition

for one thing.

It seems to be two distinct things.

And you can see it: what's the first one?

They're both requests for power.

They're both requests for strength.

But strength for two different things.

The first one is the power necessary

to be the dwelling place of Christ.

The second one is a request

for the strength necessary

to have something going on in the brain

that you comprehend something

of Christ's love for His people.

Both requests - requests for power.

But power to do two different things.

So, today, I want to focus on the first

of the two requests.

I want to start out at verse 16

and go halfway through v. 17

with this first request.

Just hear it again.

Look at it.

"I bow my knee to the Father."

I'm praying to the Father for this:

"That according to the riches of His glory

He may grant you to be strengthened

with power through His Spirit
in your inner being

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts

through faith."

Now, did you notice that?

So that Christ may dwell in
your hearts through faith.

You say, what's that?

Exactly.

What is this?

Christ dwelling in my heart by faith.

I mean, you know, if we want to be honest,

when you start talking about Christ

dwelling in your heart,

you know what that sounds like?

It sounds like a lot of the
cheap evangelism today.

Say the sinner's prayer.
Ask Jesus into your heart.

It sounds like that kind of thing.

And you'll be saved.

But, think with me.
Think with me.

Let me ask you one very important question

right at this point.

Is Paul speaking to lost people

who need to be saved?

What say you?

No.

Is Paul saying to unbelievers,

"Accept Jesus into your hearts"?

See, the thing is, Paul wasn't
speaking to unbelievers at all.

This very letter - in
no place in this letter

does it seem that Paul

is reaching out to the lost

and giving them instruction
in how to be saved

or praying for them as to
how they should be saved.

We know this.

The letter opens up with:

"To the saints who are at Ephesus

and are faithful in Christ Jesus."

In fact, at the end of
the previous chapter

he said this:

"To you who were once far off

and have been brought near
by the blood of Christ."

These are the people that are reconciled.

"So then, you are no longer
strangers and aliens."

This is who he's talking to.

Those who used to be strangers and aliens,

but they're no longer
strangers and aliens.

Now they're fellow
citizens with the saints

and members of the household of God,

and they're being built together

into this dwelling place for God.

That's who he's speaking to.

These are Christians.

Now this is a very strange thing.

Because if one of you came up to me

and I wasn't specifically thinking

about Paul's prayer here,

and you said, "Brother,
I'm praying for you

that you may have strength,

that Christ dwell in
your heart by faith."

Okay.

I guess I'm good with that.

But what is this?

I mean, what's going on here?

What kind of prayer is this?

What do we say to this?

Ho hum... whatever.

Yes, I see it.

I mean, sometimes we can feel

when we read stuff like this,

it's like sometimes we're getting so much

spiritual - I don't know if you want

to put the words "mumbo jumbo" in there.

It's like it's spiritual, but it's
not registering with me.

What is this?

I mean, Paul, come on. Get practical.

If you were praying for them

and they were having trials
over there in Ephesus,

and they were being attacked
and they were facing persecution,

and some of them got thrown in prison

and you were praying that
they'd get put out of prison,

or if they were having
financial difficulties

and you were praying that God would

provide and supply all their need,

or if they were struggling with cancer

or something like that?

Well, yes, Paul, if you prayed
that they be healed,

we can all get that.

That's relevant, Paul. What's this?

What are you praying for?

What is this?

Those things seem real.

Those things seem relevant.

But praying for the power to be
strengthened in the inner man

so that Christ can dwell in my heart?

What's that all about?

Don't we automatically assume

that if we are Christians,

Christ already dwells in our heart?

So let me ask you that.

If you're a Christian, does
Christ dwell in your heart?

Then why do you need
anybody to pray for you

that you might be strengthened

so that Christ may dwell in your heart?

Isn't that a redundant, useless prayer?

I mean, Paul, why are you praying

for that which already is?

Now, look, if you're saved

and you're around
somebody who's praying

for you to be saved all the time,

isn't that a bit weird?

Now, it either means that
they just don't think

your profession is real,

but if you said to them,

"Brother, why do you always pray for me

that I be saved?"

"You don't believe I'm saved?"

And he says, "I altogether
believe you're saved."

"Then why are you
praying that I be saved?"

Well, you know, there is a place
for doing that in Scripture

because there is a place
in Scripture that says

that you're not saved
unless you endure to the end.

And if somebody was
actually praying for you

that you be saved and that's
what they meant by it,

you see, sometimes it's
just a matter of knowing

what the person means.

It's our misunderstanding that makes us

not perhaps count this
thing to be so relevant.

Christ already dwells in your heart.

But see, this is the point.

It's hard to enter into the importance

of praying this way

if we really don't feel the need

of what's being prayed for.

But the thing to do is
not to despise this.

The thing to do is learn from this.

And I would say this,

even if you looked at it and you said

I don't get it.

It doesn't really sound
all that great to me.

But if you just backed up and you looked

at the context around it,

whatever this is and
whatever Paul means by it

when you have Paul appealing

to the riches of God's glory

to bring this to pass,

whatever this is requires
the almighty Spirit of God

to unleash power by which
I must be strengthened

for this to take place.

And you don't want to fail to notice,

if indeed what we find there

at the end of v. 19

is the culmination of
both of these petitions

coming to pass,

"that you may be filled with
all the fullness of God."

What is that?

Filled with all the fullness of God.

Would to God that we knew
more of what that was.

But when you look at this in context,

Paul's not dealing with some meager,

little things here.

He's dealing with glory.

I hope you can feel, Paul is lifting

way up into the glory
when he's asking for this.

So what is this?

Well, I kind of hinted on this already,

but for our own learning,

let's really know.

This is spiritual.

I'm not saying that praying

for health, finances -

I'm not saying that's
necessarily unspiritual.

But those things definitely have to do

with what is earthly.

And the thing is

what I would have you to notice

is that when Paul tells them,

"Ephesians, let me tell you
how I'm praying for you,"

not a single mention of
any earthly circumstance.

Like, he's not praying them out
of circumstances in their life.

So often we pray that way.

So often, reports come,

"Oh brethren, this
calamity happened to me.

Please pray for me."

And you know what they want?

They want you to pray
them out of the calamity.

Right? Oh, I lost my job.

I don't have a car.

And you see, what Paul would say to us

is you know how I'm going to pray for you?

I'm not going to pray necessarily

that you get a car, and I'm not saying

that there's anything wrong
with praying for a car,

but if he's really going to hit on

the things that are most important

to pray for other people,

what he's going to pray

is the things that bypass
circumstances altogether.

It's like the circumstance
isn't really the issue.

The issue is who you are on the inside.

And he's going to pray that
we're right on the inside

because if we're right on the inside,

no matter what's happening on the outside,

we're going to respond to it right.

Even if they're putting us to death,

putting us in prison,
putting us in the fire.

You see, the issue is not
praying away the circumstances,

but that's oftentimes how we

are very specific to pray.

And yet, that doesn't even enter in here.

Nothing about trying to pray away

their sufferings and trials.

Rather, he's praying for
their spiritual welfare

in the inner man.

The inner man.

Now, that's helpful for us to learn.

When we pray for one another,

what are the most important
things to pray for?

Yes, there's a place to pray

that God would supply all of our needs.

But you know, all of our needs -

so often when we hear that kind of thing,

we think money.

And yet our greatest
needs are not financial.

Our greatest needs are spiritual.

Two young men may find themselves faced

with the same spiritual trial for purity.

That happens all the time.

Young man faced with trials

that challenge their purity.

One young man falls.

One young man does not.

One was prayed for.
Somebody was praying for him.

Somebody like Leslie Smith had his picture

up on the mantle and
prayed for him every day

that he not fall,

that God strengthen him.

One was prayed for, one was not.

Look, if you don't think
things work that way,

then you're missing exactly
what Paul's doing here

and how the kingdom does in fact work.

Paul doesn't pray for these Ephesians

and say," well, prayer
for people like that

is just useless."

Do you think Paul actually
felt like if he prayed

that these Ephesians be strengthened

that the result would be

that they wouldn't be strengthened?

Or do you think he actually
thought that praying for them

would yield the very
result he was praying for

and that them being strengthened

would help them to stand, to run,

to do better, to win, to conquer,

to fight, to resist?

You see, that's the reality,

and if we lose that -

oh, hyper-Calvinism,

it is a plague in the church.

I love the sovereignty of God -

what James was talking
about in the first hour.

Of course, the Lord - if the Lord wills.

But I'll tell you this,
what the Lord does will

is He wills for His people to pray

and He tells us,

and it's His will too to answer prayer.

God says it.

God says if you ask, you will receive.

That's His will.

His will is that if you have
not because you ask not

in the same letter from James,

that's a reality.

Throw your hyper-Calvinism out the window.

What you do mean by hyper-Calvinism?

What am I talking about there?

I'm talking about where you say

God is sovereign.

God's going to do what He's going to do,

so praying for somebody to be strengthened

in their inner man is relatively useless.

I'll say that's crazy, that's backward,

that's not biblical, that is error.

You know what the reality is?

That the guy that's being prayed for

all the time by somebody,

is going to run better
than the guy that's not.

You say, how can you prove that?

I can prove that everywhere

by the fact that prayer is guaranteed

results in the Scriptures.

That's just a reality

and when God does answer these things,

these requests that
somebody be strengthened,

then what happens?

Well, they're strengthened.

And what happens when you're strengthened?

You perform better.

You can handle greater weight.

(incomplete thought)

You think about it.

Two young men.

They're going to try to lift

the same huge weight in weightlifting.

One drinks an energy drink

and it actually gives him energy.

Which one's going to perform better?

It's the same way in the spiritual realm.

That's what Paul's praying for.

Paul is praying for power.

He's praying for strength.

That things may happen.

Strength of comprehension.

Strength that you may have Christ

dwell in your hearts by faith.

Two Christians encounter
the same difficulty.

Which will advance more?

Which is going to do better?

Which is going to face the temptation?

Which is going to face the devil better?

God, give us prayer warriors

who will pray the power of God

down upon the church.

Not for money,

not for better health,

but for the power of God
in the inward man.

That's what we need.

Oh, if we're praying for one another,

I'll tell you, it will make a difference.

Don't be hyper-Calvinistic!

Don't be unbiblical.

(incomplete thought)

You know what?

Paul's going off to do something.

He's going off to face enemies.

He's going off to take the
Gospel into dark places.

And what does he say to the churches?

Pray for me.

Pray for me that I might
be sped on my way,

that I might be able to handle

the enemies of the cross
I'm going to encounter,

and that I may speak with boldness.

Do you think he felt like,

well, that's just senseless;
that's useless.

I won't be any more bold
if you pray for me or not.

That's absolutely contrary
to what he's saying.

He every bit believed

that if they were praying for him,

there would be results
that would not happen

if they weren't praying for him.

That is the reality.

God, give us men and women

who are convinced of this.

Yes, God is sovereign.

But He has determined that people

who lay hold on His sovereignty,

have what they would not otherwise have

if they didn't pray.

Do you remember the king?

Do you remember the king

when the prophet was going to go

be with the Lord?

His days are done.

He goes to the king of Israel.

He says, "take that arrow."

He said, "Bang it against the floor."

He banged it three times.

What did he say?

He was angry with him.

He said, "if you would
have banged that more,"

he said, "you know what's going to happen?

You're going to have victory
over your enemies three times.

If you would have banged it 5 or 6 times,

you would have totally
subdued your enemy."

What's that?

That is a picture of prayer.

Bang the arrow, brethren!

You say, what?

It's like our brother Andy.

He talks about when the Amalekites

were fighting against Israel,

and as long as Moses' arms were up

which is a picture of
upraised hands in prayer,

Israel prevailed.

And when his arms fell,

Amalekites prevailed.

And you remember what happened.

Two of his friends came
and upheld his arms.

And so Israel had victory.

Those are the kinds of
things you find in Scripture.

We need to think that way.

We need men and women who are convinced;

we need men and women who are convinced

that we've got people in this church

who will stand if they pray for them;

they will fall if they don't.

They're convinced that prayer
matters that much;

that the spiritual welfare of our church

matters that much.

Listen, we live in a culture -

many are desperate.

They're desperate for health.

Ruby and I, we go to the gym at times.

The place is full and there's a
lot of old people in there.

They're trying to just
keep the engines going.

They're trying to keep the health.

And you know, anything that promises

youth in your old age, it sells well.

And I've probably spent
my dollars on some of it.

And you should spend more.

But desperate for health.

Good diet.

Going to the gym.

And financial things.

Desperate.

I see it all the time.

Right south of 35 on this
side of the highway

when you're driving south,

there's a big billboard there.

And it's all about having peace,

being at rest concerning

your financial future.

I drive by it and I think,

Lord, I don't have anything in there.

I'm trusting You.

You're my trust for retirement.

You're my trust for the future.

And look, I'm not saying you
can't save some money.

But our Lord said store up
your treasure in Heaven.

But this same culture that is so hungry

for financial security

and for health security,

they're not very hungry for transformation

of the inner man.

That seems to get passed over,

but that's where Paul goes.

And you know what?

I just heard it from my sister-in-law.

She was saying concerning children,

and I was taking this to heart -

she was saying concerning our children -

it was like she was having
a conversation with the Lord.

And the Lord was saying to her

concerning her children,

"when do you grow the most?

When there's trials or
when there's not trials?"

And she was saying,

"Well, Lord, when there's trials."

It was like she was hearing His voice say,

"Well, when are your children
going to grow the most?"

You see, we don't like
our children in trials.

We want to protect them from it.

I don't like it.

I don't like to see my children cry.

I don't like to see my
children in distress.

But you know what?

That's what's best for the inner man.

You see, Paul doesn't come along and say,

you know what? We need to
try to rescue our children,

whether they be spiritual
children or physical children.

We need to rescue them from hard times,

from difficulties, and from trials.

Paul doesn't even pray for these Ephesians

any way whatsoever like that.

He just says it doesn't
matter what you're facing.

You've got marital problems?

You've got persecution in the family?

You've got children that are

going off the way of the world?

You're in financial distress?

You've got the Romans over there

that are threatening you

and taking your stuff?

All these things -

he doesn't say, you know what?

I'm going to pray you
out of that situation.

I'm going to pray you
into harmony in this world.

None of that.

He says you know what
I'm going to pray for you?

I'm going to pray that God
would so strengthen

your inner man that
such things happen

that no matter what you're faced with

you'll excel,

you'll please the Lord,

you'll be triumphant.

That's the issue.

One thing I would have us to see by this

is - I love it, and I like
to show it to you

when I see it,

because it happens more in Scripture

I think sometimes than we're aware of,

but just the Trinitarian nature

of this first petition.

"For this reason I bow
my knees to the..." who?

The Father.

"From whom the whole family

in heaven and on earth is named,

that according to the riches of His glory

He may grant you to be strengthened

with power through..." who?

His Spirit "in your inner being

so that..." who?

Christ. The Son.

Don't you love that? I love it.

Trinitarian.

Paul prays to the Father

for power from the Spirit

that will yield the indwelling of the Son.

Oh, how important each of the Persons

of the Holy Trinity is.

Not just to the life of the Christian,

but to the prayer life of the Christian.

I just say that in passing.

I wish I could say much more on that.

I wish I could say much more on that,

not that I have much more to say on it.

I wish that the Lord would have

really allowed the blinders to come off

so that I might have
said with great effect

more on that note.

But just take that and mull on that.

What this is - a prayer that's meant to

take the Christian further up

and farther in.

You see, when he says -

now think about this.

You're already saved.

I'm praying for you that you may be

strengthened with the power

of the Spirit of God in your inner man

that Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith.

What he's doing is this is him

saying, "Christian, I'm praying

you will go higher and deeper

and further in;

that you'll experience more, more."

You know what this is like?

Sometimes I think we get confused.

We were just talking on Tuesday

about this reality
concerning the Holy Spirit.

I'm not going to turn to it,

but it does say in Luke 11:13

that we as Christians should be

praying to our Father in Heaven

for the Holy Spirit.

It's interesting it doesn't say
"for more of the Holy Spirit."

It says "if you then being evil

know how to give gifts to your children,

how much more will your Father" -

your Father - He's talking to Christians.

"...Your Father give the Holy Spirit

to them who ask."

Why would we need the Holy Spirit?

Did we not receive the Holy Spirit

when we were first saved?

Scripture says if you
don't have the Spirit,

you don't belong to Christ.

So obviously, we do.

You are not in the Kingdom;

you will not receive the Kingdom

unless you're born of the Spirit.

That's just a reality.

So why in the world would we be told

to pray for the Holy Spirit?

It's these kinds of truths.

It doesn't mean that you
don't already have the Spirit.

Just as it doesn't mean that Christ

doesn't already dwell in your heart.

The reality is it's a prayer for more.

More of the manifestation.

More of the influence.

More of the experience.

Is that not the way Scripture paints?

Do you know that the Christian life

is not meant to be static?

It's not meant to be.

You need to have motion.

I just recently at my wife's birthday,

I put this on her card,

and I think about this.

I think about this text often.

"The path of the righteous

is like the dawn of day."

And what does it do?

Anybody know?

It shines brighter and brighter

until full day.

I like that. Brighter and brighter.

Or you get this: Psalm 84:7,

"They go from strength to strength."

Or 2 Corinthians 3:18, our ESV's say,

"From one degree of glory to another."

But you know what that is in the original?

"From glory to glory."

There's this increase.

There's this upward movement.

Or 2 Thessalonians,

"Your faith is growing abundantly,

and the love of every one
of you for one another

is increasing."

2 Peter - Peter is getting ready

to go be with the Lord.

He talks about he's putting off

this body, this frame, and he says,

I want to appeal to you.

I want to exhort you.

I want to encourage you

that if these qualities are yours -

and he goes through
a whole list of them.

"...And are increasing."

See? Increase. Increase.

Philippians - Paul is praying

that your love may abound more and more

with knowledge and all discernment.

Think with me here.

Just look for a second

at Paul's second petition in this prayer.

What is he praying for?

He's praying that you
might have the strength

to comprehend with all the saints

what is the breadth and length

and height and depth

and to know the love of Christ

that surpasses understanding.

Now let me ask you something.

When somebody prays that for a Christian,

is that implying that
they don't know anything

about the love of Christ?

You see, it's further in.

Further. Deeper.

The breadth.

The length.

It's: go deeper.

Go higher.

That's the call. That's the prayer.

Ephesians, I'm praying for you

that in your inner man,

you would be strengthened

to experience the
realities of Christianity.

Deeper, deeper,

further, further in.

Broader, higher.

And when it comes to
Christ dwelling in our hearts,

it's the same reality.

And the verb - the verb "dwell."

Christ dwelling in your hearts.

It's an interesting word.

It actually has a prefix attached to it.

"kata" - if you know your Greek,

it means "down."

It's the idea of settling down.

It's Christ coming

and not just passing by,

not just abiding, but He's settling in.

It's the idea of abiding down.

What's being prayed for?

That you might be reinforced by God.

Strengthened.

Reinforced.

You say strengthen that wall.

Strengthen that beam.

What are you saying?

Reinforce that thing.

Why?

It's that Christ may dwell in there.

That takes the power of God.

I remember one time Paul Washer

saying that Christ came to him -

Paul said that Christ
came to him in a way,

God came to him in a way

that he was never the same again.

And he told me, I believe this was

in a conversation I had -
or I heard him say it.

But, he said I believe

that God supernaturally strengthened me

to receive that manifestation of Christ

that was thrust upon my soul.

And he said I don't think I would have

been able to bear that otherwise.

Spurgeon.

He says in light of this reality,

he said that he believes

that there are Christians -

like if you receive what
Paul is praying for -

he says he believes that there are

some Christians who receive an answer

to this kind of prayer

whose experience is so much higher

than the ordinary Christian's experience

as the ordinary Christian's experience

is above the unbeliever.

I want that.

And if there's anybody in here
that will pray that for me,

God love you, God bless you, God help you.

And you say, well, likewise brother.

I hear you.

One of the things that we as
overseers are to be doing

is we're to give ourselves to prayer

and to the Word.

And I don't know exactly
about James' prayer life,

but I have a feeling that
he prays a lot for you.

And I know that I do too.

And God give us more elders

who are going to pray for you like this.

We need that.

You know what Lloyd-Jones said?

"The very greatness of what
is offered to us here

demands that we be strengthened
in order to receive it

lest we might be shattered by it."

Lloyd-Jones speaks of the
"transcendent glory

of such an experience

when Christ enters the heart,

the glory is such, the power is such,

the very physical frame
seems to collapse beneath it."

Now, he's talking physical frame.

And what Paul isn't talking about

having your physical frame strengthened,

he is talking about your spiritual frame.

When we're filled with the whole

fullness of God,

we need to be strong.

I want that. I want that.

Lloyd-Jones says it's a shattering,

overwhelming experience.

Now look, as I'm thinking
about the concept,

the closest in my own mind

that I can come to this in other passages

is basically this:

Jesus Christ said to His disciples

as He was getting ready to go to the cross

right there in John 14.

He said to them this. He said,

"whoever has My commandments

and keeps them,

he it is who loves Me,

and he who loves Me
will be loved by My Father,"

and He says, "And I will love him

and manifest myself to him."

Now you think about it.
You're sitting there. You're Peter.

You're Thomas. You're Matthew.

And Jesus is saying,

"if you have My commandments
and you keep them,

you're the one that loves Me.

And you know what, if you love Me,

oh, My Father's going to love you.

I'm going to love you.

And I will manifest Myself to you."

And it gets even closer to that

two verses later.

In John 14:23, it says this,

"Jesus answered him,

'if anyone loves Me,
he will keep My Word,"

again, it's got to do with love

and keeping His Word.

He says, "My Father will love him

and we will come to him

and make our home."

See, that is the closest
you find in Scripture.

We're going to come to you

and we're going to make our home with him.

We're going to make our abode.

We're going to abide.

We're going to settle in.

You know, Jesus says something similar

to a church.

To the church in Laodicea which by the way

its candlestick was still shining.

He says to people who are
professing to be Christians -

we can sort out whether they're lost,

whether they're saved -

He says those whom He loves,

He chastens.

And He says to them this,

"I stand at the door and knock."

He said, "if you open
to Me, I'll come in."

Is He just going to come in passing?

"No, I'm going to come in. I'll sit down.

And I'll eat with you."

There's a closeness and
there's an intimacy there.

You see, you get this in Scripture.

This is not a question

of Christ being in the believer.

It's His being at home.

You know, you invite
somebody over for dinner -

what Jesus is saying,

"You let Me in.

I come in. I sit down.

We're going to commune together.

We're going to have fellowship."

But the thing about all this is

that verb there in Ephesians 3,

it means you have somebody over

and they settle in.

It's like they start
moving their furniture in.

That's what's being talked about here.

And you know, when you have
somebody in your house,

it affects the atmosphere of the house.

You have somebody that comes in

and they move in and
they really settle in,

there's an impact there.

This is the kind of thing

that Paul is praying for.

Christ is a permanent Resident

in every saved person.

Paul is praying for people
who already have that.

That's the thing. He's praying for more.

That Christ might really settle in

and have full access.

I mean when somebody really settles in,

and they're really at home in my house,

they'll go in my bathroom.

They might use my shower.

I remember, Brother Andy came to my house.

Man, he just charged in
to the master bedroom,

straight into the master bathroom,

like looking at everything.

That's what Jesus is doing.

He's coming in -

now Andy didn't bring his furniture

and his clothing.

But this is full access.

Every closet. Every basement.

Every crawl space. All the attic.

Paul is praying that the Christian

might have this experiential expansion.

It's already a theological fact.

That we know, but more, more.

He's praying that the
Christian might have more.

The Lord Jesus through the Spirit

might exert this ever increasing

and progressively more powerful influence

on our lives, in our hearts.

The heart. The heart. In our hearts.

That, of course, is the inner person.

It's the spiritual center.

It controls every aspect of our behavior.

Remember what this is all about.

God, give us the prayer warriors

who are praying that the power of God

will come down that we all

might be brought to this place

where Christ is dwelling.

We have a greater conscious sense

of His fellowship, His presence.

Greater and greater enjoyment of Him.

Paul wants Christ settling
into our consciousness.

You think about it.

He comes and He settles in,

where you wake up - Christ is there.

You're dreaming - Christ is there.

You're going to do and go about your day -

Christ is there.

He's there. He's in your consciousness.

He's guiding the conscience.

He's there in the affections.

He's there.

His presence is felt. It's real.

It's deep. It's greater.

May God take us higher and deeper

and further,

and not be grieved by sin,

by sinful words, sinful thoughts,

that kind of thing.

You remember how it was?

He found Himself very at home

at Mary, Martha, and Lazarus' house.

In a spiritual sense, we want our heart

to be like their home.

He loved it there.

He went there.

They loved Him.

The Christian heart - that's
the home of Christ.

The place where He loves to be.

I want this.

Pray this for me,

and I'll pray it for you.

And if we do, we're going
to be more like Paul.

We're going to be
praying the way Paul prays.

You don't have to pray
that I get more money.

You don't have to pray
that I get a new truck

because the paint's
peeling off my old one.

It still runs perfect.

You don't need to pray that.

But you pray this for me.

Pray this for me, please!

Pray this for me.

And for my wife.

And for my children.

And for each other.

And for your wife and for your husband

and for your children.

I'll tell you, if we bombard
heaven for this

and we're serious about this,

there's more to be had.

There is more to be had.

May the prayer life of our church

be revived and go deeper.

I said in the early days -

oh brethren, I remember -

we were down in Floresville.

I remember this guy came in.

Craig probably remember who he is.

We were taking prayer requests one night,

and he said, I remember like his aunt

or his mom had a sore toe.

And then he wanted us to
pray for his mom's dog.

And that has always stuck with me.

And any time our prayer meetings

get to where requests come out like that,

then I feel like it's time to stand up

and say brethren, we need to rethink

what these prayer meetings are all about.

Paul helps us here.

(incomplete thought)

I'm not saying you
can't pray for your dog.

I'm not saying you
can't pray for everything,

but I'm saying there are some prayers

that really matter.

And there are some prayers

that in the light of eternity

and the light of the bigger picture,

they're just not that important.

There are some big things,

and you think about it.

When that reality of Christ

dwelling deeply in you

and there's that
experience, I'll tell you,

you don't lightly go look at
pornography on the Internet.

You don't lightly run out and lie.

You don't lightly go and exude jealousy.

Why? Because you're so thankful

for the revelations of
Christ on your soul,

for His nearness, for the experience,

for the love, for the
overwhelming presence,

the aroma.

It's very difficult to get jealous

when you realize you've
got the greatest riches

and the greatest treasure
in all the world.

Very difficult to become covetous

and idolatrous and to be longing

and pining after all the things

that the world pines after.

Boy, it sets things right when you

have such a close experiential sense

of the indwelling Christ.

It sets everything right.

Paul knows that.

May the fullness

of the glory of God

according to the riches of His glory.

Brethren, may He grant you

to be strengthened.

Father, give this to us,

that every one here,

every one of Your children here,

Lord, may they experience

exactly in full measure

what Paul was praying for these Ephesians.

Amen.